Only Now
by Higgles123
Summary: One shot of Alfie Solomons and his wife having a baby. New Day is the prequel to this one shot :)


Alfie woke up with the feeling that something wasn't quite right. The hour was late and it was dark outside. The waxing half moon in the sky cast eerie shadows on the bedroom walls as he glanced around, his eyes adjusting to the near darkness. He stopped when he saw his wife stood up, leaning against the dressing table.

"Ava?" he croaked. "Everythin' alright love?"

His wife didn't answer at first. She just remained leant over the table he'd had made for her in Paris when they got married last year. It was feminine and delicate like everything else in their house. One would be hard pressed to remember that a man lived there what with all the ornaments and flowery nick nacks his wife insisted on having. But they made her happy and that's all he ever wanted her to be. Hell, she could dress him up like one of her fancy tea cosy's if it made her face break out into that smile he adored. The one where her glistening eyes would crinkle.

After a few moments she straightened up and padded slowly across the carpeted floor towards him. As she passed by the window, the moonlight allowed him to glimpse the almost pained expression upon her face, and he quickly sat up and switched on the bedside lamp as she sat down on the bed with a sigh.

"I think the baby's coming," she murmured, her hands resting on her protruding stomach.

Alfie adored that round mound. After her, it was the best thing in his life. He had been working late at the bakery almost every night over the past few months, and Ava was usually always asleep by the time he got home. Mostly, she would nod off on the sofa and he would find Cyril curled up next to her feet. The mutt would stare at him almost admonishing him for being home so late.

"I know mate," Alfie would scratch his ears by way of apology. "Business just don't care what time I leave the office at the moment. You been lookin' after Mummy for me though, eh? Maybe tomorrow you can remind her not to be mad at me, yeah? Who am I kiddin'? You always take her bloody side, don't ya? Daft bloody mutt."

He would carry Ava up to bed and then lie there while she slept, his hands caressing her bump and his mouth pressed against her flesh so that he could speak to his child. Often it would be about nonsensical things like how his day had been, and when he would feel his child kicking against the palm of his hand, he would grin. His heart would do this strange leap and his throat would feel tight.

"Now, you stop that, yeah," he would reprimand gently, kissing his wife's soft skin and tracing the lines that marred the skin. No. Marred was the wrong word. They weren't something that had ruined her. They were proud reminders that she was growing a life inside her. They were beautiful. "You're gonna wake your mother up, and she's already tired enough from growin' you, aint she? She's precious. Like a jewel. We gotta look after her, me and you."

This would go on for hours until Ava would wake for the toilet or until the sun came up.

Alfie blinked. And again. He frowned, focusing on his wife's almost expectant stare.

"Sorry, say that again," he said. "Cos I aint entirely sure I heard you right, treacle."

"The baby's coming," she repeated, louder this time, turning to look at him. "My water broke about an hour and a half ago and I've been getting pains ever since."

Alfie rubbed a hand vigorously over his face and slapped his cheek in an attempt to wake himself up.

"So let me guess this right, yeah? You've been in labour, yeah, for an hour and you didn't think to fuckin' tell me? What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"There wasn't much to tell," Ava shrugged. "Ollie's wife told me that when it first starts it can be hours or even days before the baby comes. She said not to phone for anyone until the pains come closer together. And you've been so tired lately that I didn't wanna wake you."

"No offense love, yeah, but what does fuckin' Ollie's wife know?" Alfie glared.

"Well she has done this four times so I'm certain she knows how it goes by now," Ava glared back at him.

"Hmm," Alfie harrumphed. "Well no offense, yeah, but I'd prefer to take the advice of a professional over a woman whose only knowledge, right, comes from the fact that she can't stop poppin' out kids cos she aint got anythin' better to do with her time."

"Alfie, don't be so horrid," Ava slapped him on the arm. "Those four kids happen to be your godchildren."

"And I love each one of their scrawny little arses, but they're like fuckin' verminous leeches. You walk in the house and they clamp onto ya like fuckin' limpets," he told her. "Their mucky little paws all over ya while they mider ya about whatever fuckin' shite they've been doin' that day. And then there's the fuckin' presents. Birthdays, Hannukah, christenings, bar mitzvah's, yeah. It's fuckin' never ending. No wonder Ollie's always fuckin' harpin' on about gettin' a fuckin' pay rise"

"Alfie Solomons, would you just sto-"

Ava suddenly doubled over and grunted as another pain took hold of her. Hurriedly, Alfie leapt over the bed and crouched down on the floor beside her, groaning as his stiff hip shouted at him for moving so quickly.

"Are you alright?" Ava muttered, her eyes squeezed shut and her hands grasping at the bedsheets.

"Don't you worry about me, angel," Alfie stroked her face, wishing he knew what to do or say. "You just breathe, eh?"

A minute later and Ava let out a sigh as her entire body relaxed.

"What can I do love?" he asked, taking hold of her hands and kissing them reverently. "Cuppa? Some of that nice cake what Mrs Schwartz made? That's if you aint eaten it all. Don't think I aint seen ya sneakin' a bite, yeah, when you think no one's lookin'."

"A bath would be nice," Ava told him.

"A bath?" Alfie frowned. "Is that alright?"

"What do you mean?" It was Ava's turn to frown.

"Well you know," Alfie scratched his beard nervously. "For the baby."

"It may come as a surprise to you to know that I've had a bath every day for the duration of this pregnancy, Alfie," she stared at him pointedly.

"Well I know that," he tittered. "Otherwise you'd be a right smelly fuckin' cow wouldn't ya? But is it alright to do it now that the time has come for our child to enter the world? What if, right, it falls out while you're in the bath? I don't want my kid to drown, yeah, before it can even take its first fuckin' breath."

"Alfie, I've never had a baby myself before, but even I know that it won't just fall out," she rolled her eyes. "I wish it bloody would. Now are you gonna run me a bath or shall I just go and do it myself?"

"Don't you dare fuckin' move, angel," Alfie warned her, groaning as he pulled himself up from the floor. "You just stay right where you are, love. I'm gonna get Sarah to bring the bath in here for you."

"Don't wake her up," Ava shook her head, at the thought of the middle aged housekeeper being roused from her slumber in the middle of the night.

But it was too late.

"Sarah!" Alfie bellowed down the hallway as his bare feet stomped along it. "Sarah, Ava is in the throes of labour and wants a bath."

"Hardly in the bloody throes," she muttered to herself.

No sooner had she uttered those words did another pain seize her entire body.

"I'm comin', treacle," Alfie was by her side in an instant. "Take my hands. That's it. I said take 'em, not fuckin' squeeze 'em, yeah. Fuckin' hell. Sarah, where the bloody hell is that bath?"

"Coming Sir," Sarah called out fervently, as she dragged the metal tub into the bedroom. She glanced worriedly at Ava who was squeezing hold of Alfie's hands for dear life and panting.

"Move, Sarah!" Alfie shouted. "The fuckin' kid'll be here before you've filled that fuckin' bath."

"Of course, Sir," Sarah bustled out of the room.

"I do wish you wouldn't shout at her," Ava managed to get out through gritted teeth.

"Oh she knows I don't mean it," Alfie declared, brushing a strand of raven black hair back from Ava's face as she began to relax once more. "Fuckin' hell, this is all a bit intense aint it? I can see why fellas wait outside now. Oh but don't you worry, yeah," he smiled, kissing her forehead. "I aint goin' nowhere me, love. I'm stayin' right here for the duration."

"Promise?" she asked him, her blue eyes pleading with him to keep her safe.

"Promise treacle," he kissed the palm of her hand and placed it over his heart.

….

The warm bath provided some much needed relief. So much so, that Ava was in there for over two hours much to Alfie's dismay. Poor Sarah would come in and dutifully add more hot water whenever Alfie hollered for her to do so.

"Love, you're turnin' into a fuckin' prune," Alfie stroked her face as she leant over the edge of the bath, another contraction leaving her already tired body. "You stay in there any longer, right, and the baby's gonna come out with gills and a fuckin' tail."

Ava laughed despite herself. But she couldn't force herself to yet leave the comfort of the watery bliss. Well, perhaps bliss was an exaggeration. But it was helping. Every time she thought about getting out, her stomach and back would contract so painfully that she would tell herself she would stay in for just a few more minutes.

There was one downside to the bath though. It had brought the contractions closer together. Maybe if she was in a more coherent state, she would have been grateful for the fact that as first labours go, this one was moving on rather swiftly. Ava decided it was finally time to telephone for the midwife.

Alfie helped Ava out of the bath, drying her with a soft white towel just as well as any mother would have done. He pulled a clean night gown over her and brushed her hair for her. Knowing his wife as he did, she always liked to look her best and he didn't think she'd appreciate anything different now.

"Let's get you into the bed, love, yeah?" he took her by the hands. "The midwife'll be here in a minute."

"No," Ava shook her head. "I don't wanna lie down."

"Right," Alfie cleared his throat. He wasn't exactly sure of birth protocol, but he was fairly certain that lying down was an imperative part of it.

"Let me hold onto you," she said, winding her arms around his neck. Glad that she seemed to be calm and relatively pain free, Alfie let his hands drift down to her hips. Her body swayed from side to side as one contraction seemed to roll into another and then another. She leaned into him and rested her head on his shoulder. With each contraction, she would moan and she had begun to take on an almost dazed state as the pains seemed almost never ending.

"It's like we're dancin' this, eh? Just like when we got married. First and only time you've got me to dance in front of people. You were beautiful that day. Even more beautiful than you are every day. You was like a real life angel sent from heaven," Alfie chattered, as he felt his wife grip him tighter. His hand rubbed at her lower back. "That's it, sweetheart, yeah. You're doin' fuckin' amazin'."

"I'm never doing this again," she moaned. "Next time you think about putting that…that thing inside me, you can fuck off. It's not happening."

"Alright angel," he murmured soothingly, unable to hold back a grin over her shoulder.

"I mean it, Alfie," she growled.

"I know you do, love," he kissed her head.

The relief on Alfie's face when the midwife appeared was immeasurable.

"How are we doing, Mrs Solomons?" the short, blonde woman set down her bag on the floor.

"How do you fucking think?" she snarled. "A baby is trying to come out of me. It's hardly a fucking party is it?"

"Now now love, calm down," Alfie murmured, before turning his attention to the midwife. "The contractions are every two minutes and they're lastin' about a minute each time."

"Very good," the midwife nodded. "Let's get you on the bed and see how far along we are, shall we?"

"Come on, love," Alfie steered her towards the bed.

"Oh that's right," she spat. "You take her side, won't you?"

Alfie pulled a face at the midwife who smirked.

"Perhaps you should wait outside now, Mr Solomons," the midwife suggested, as she knelt at the bottom of the bed to examine her patient.

"It aint nothin' I've never seen before, Miss," he told her. "How do ya think we got in this position, yeah?"

"I understand, Mr Solomons," she smiled kindly. "It's just that usually men in the birthing room tend to cause more problems and they're a distraction to the mothers."

"No disrespect to you, right, Miss," Alfie waved a jewelled finger at her. "But I've been doing this for the last few hours, yeah. I told my wife I wasn't goin' nowhere cos I aint."

"Very well," the midwife nodded.

Ava threw her arm over her face and groaned as the midwife began the examination. Alfie felt his face twist into a grimace and he wished he could just tell the snooty mare to keep her hands away from his wife. But she was only doing her job, so he forced himself to remain rational.

"It's alright, love," he leant down and kissed Ava's temple. "It'll be done in a minute, eh? That's a good girl."

"You're fully dilated, Mrs Solomons," the midwife smiled. "It's time to start pushing."

"Already?" Ava frowned, panting with relief that the woman's hands were no longer pushing around inside of her uncomfortably. "It's only been a few hours since it started. Ollie's wife said her first one took almost two days. I think you must be wrong."

"I'm fairly certain," the midwife told her, mirth glistening in her hazel eyes.

"But Ollie's wife sa-"

"-Right," Alfie put a hand up to silence her. "If I hear one more word about Ollie's fuckin' wife, yeah, I'm gonna lose my fuckin' mind. And Ollie's gonna find himself missin' his fuckin' balls so that I can prevent him from bringin' any more of his fuckin' spawn into the bloody world."

"While it is rather uncommon for first labours to move along so quickly," the midwife ignored Mr Solomon's angry tirade and instead focused on his wife. "It does happen. You're just one of the lucky ones. Now shall we get this baby out?"

….

Over an hour had passed and there was still no sign of baby Solomons to be seen. Alfie repeatedly asked the midwife if it was normal for the pushing stage to take so long, and each time she would reassure him that everything was going just right.

"I can't do this anymore," Ava moaned, her head flopping back against the pillow. A sheen of sweat coated her face and her voice was cracking from shouting so much.

"Just a few more pushes, Mrs Solomons," the midwife urged her calmly.

"No," Ava shook her head. "I'm not doing it anymore cos it's not working. Can't you just put your hand in there and pull it out? Please?"

Alfie and the midwife shared an amused look and Alfie bit his lip so he didn't laugh.

"Ava, love, you're doin' so well, yeah," he told her, pushing her hair back from his forehead. "Just a few more and the baby'll be here."

"I said no," she shook her head again. "I'm done, Alfie. I'm too tired. Can't you do it for me?"

"I know you are, sweetheart, and if I could do it for you, I fuckin' would, right," Alfie kissed the hand he was holding. "But it'll be over soon and then you can sleep, eh?"

Ava knew he was speaking sense, but she was just so exhausted that she wanted to close her eyes and sleep forever. But then another contraction tore through her body, bringing with it the unstoppable urge to push.

"That's it," the midwife said. "Keep pushing. Good girl, that's it. Mrs Solomons I can see the baby's head. Just another few pushes and I promise you it'll be here."

At those words, Alfie almost ran to the end of the bed to have a look, much to the dismay of the midwife and Ava.

"Fuckin' hell, Ava," he breathed. "I can see the head. And I swear to fuckin' God it's the most beautiful top of a fuckin' head I've ever been blessed to see in my entire fuckin' life. So much black hair, just like yours, yeah. Fuckin' hell."

"Alfie, come here," Ava reached out for him as she began to bare down again.

Sitting beside his wife, Alfie angled himself so that he was able to hold her hand as well as see what was happening further down. He'd heard horror stories from men who had dared to be present at the birth of their children, but he firmly decided they couldn't have been seeing the same thing as him. Because this was truly nothing short of a miracle. His wife, an adult human being, was pushing a smaller human being out of her. It was fucking biblical, mate.

"That's it, treacle," Alfie urged her, rubbing her hand as she squeezed it hard. He was certain he felt one of the small bones crack but he didn't care. She could have broken every single finger and he would have let her.

Ava let out a scream as the baby's head burst through and Alfie felt his eyes bug wide at the sight. His free hand pulled nervously at his beard while the midwife encouraged his wife to pant and not push for a moment.

"Well done," the midwife smiled. "You're doing so well. Now just give me one tiny push and you'll have your baby."

As the little body slipped out, Alfie felt his wife sink into the bed, letting out an exhausted sigh. Alfie didn't even try and stop the tears that fell from his eyes as the midwife took the screaming bundle and began cleaning it.

"It's a girl," she told them.

"Do you hear that, love?" Alfie kissed her head, tearing his gaze away from the baby to smile at his wife. The woman who had just brought his child into the world. Had she ever been more beautiful? He didn't think so. Not even the resplendent sight of her on their wedding day could compare to how she looked right now. She had dark circles under her eyes and her wet hair was stuck all over her face, but she looked like a goddess to him.

"I'm sorry it's not a boy," she murmured drowsily.

"What the fuck are you sorry for?" he frowned at her. "I couldn't have given a shit what it was just as long as it was here safe. And that you were safe and well. Fuckin' hell love, I can't believe you just did that," Alfie shook his head in amazement and kissed her gently on the lips. "Thank you for this, the most amazin' gift anyone has ever given me."

At that moment, the midwife brought the most amazing gift ever over and placed it in Ava's eagerly waiting arms. Her tiredness was seemingly forgotten about once she laid eyes on her daughter for the first time.

"Hello baby," she whispered, tears trickling out from the corners of her eyes. Her watery gaze looked up and met Alfie's. He cleared his throat and let out a breath, his hand reaching out to pull back the blanket ever so slightly. One look at that scrunched up face with full pouting lips and a cute button nose, he knew he was a goner. He loved his wife more than anything on earth, but this felt different. This was something primal and intense. How was it possible to physically hurt with the amount of love you felt for someone who had only just been born? "Do you want to hold her?"

Alfie swallowed nervously. He'd held plenty of babies in his time. Fucking hell, Ollie practically forced his spawn on him from near enough the second they were born. But this wasn't just any old baby. This was _his_ baby.

Taking the tiny swaddled bundle, he held his breath as he studied his daughter. She was perfect. He unwrapped the towel and marvelled at how tiny she was. Her little fists waved angrily as put them to her mouth. Her cry was like music to his ears. Her skin was so soft, like silk and her tiny features were so beautiful. She looked just like her mother and he couldn't have been happier.

"You're beautiful, aint ya?" he cooed, smiling when she grabbed hold of his finger. "I can already see I'm gonna have a hard time keepin' all the boys away from you."

Ava chuckled and he met her azure eyes with his own. "I fuckin' love you," he whispered, his voice cracking as he lent down to kiss his wife on the lips. His free hand cupped her face and stroked her cheek with his thumb. "And I love you," he glanced down at the baby who had stopped crying.

"And we love you too," Ava smiled at him.

Later as Alfie watched the baby nursing hungrily at Ava's breast, he realised they hadn't yet chosen a name for her.

"I've actually been thinking that if it was a girl we could call her Raisa," Ava said.

Alfie swallowed the lump in his throat. There was only one person in the world that he wished was alive to share this moment with them. But he knew his mother would be watching over them from heaven. And the fact that his wife wished to honour his mother's memory by naming their child after her only made this moment all the more special.

"Raisa Solomons," he murmured, stroking the baby's soft cheek as it suckled.

And for the first time in a long time, Alfie closed his eyes and lived only in the moment. There was no bakery, no gangland warfare, no thoughts of tomorrow. There was only now.


End file.
